Australian Doctor Sentenced to Ten Years Jail by Lebanese Military Tribunal

SYDNEY - A prominent physician in Australia’s Lebanese Muslim community says he has been sentenced to 10 years prison in absentia in Lebanon. Dr. Jamal Rifi has been working with members of Sydney’s Jewish community as part of a program to organize treatment for Palestinians in Israeli hospitals. 

Since 2017, Dr. Jamal Rifi has worked with Jewish groups in Australia on Project Rozana. It is a humanitarian organization that helps train Palestinian medical workers and assists in transferring Palestinian patients, including sick children, from Gaza and Palestinian Territories for treatment in Israeli hospitals.  Dr. Rifi, who moved to Australia almost 40-years ago to study medicine, has also worked to help the fragile Palestinian health system during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing ventilators. In 2017, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, a prestigious civic honor. His brother in Lebanon, Ashraf Rifi, informed him that he has been punished for his charity work in absentia because of his association with Jewish groups.   Dr. Rifi told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the news was deeply unsettling.